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The story of Chris and Darcy is one of coincidence, their introduction and their courtship. In February of 1998, Darcy had left her job and was looking for a new one. In her pursuit she received two offers. One working for a local newspaper doing graphic design. The other at an Internet Service Provider as a web designer, with which she had little experience. She believed working with the Internet would be a great opportunity and learning experience. Darcy being the risk-taker that she is accepted the position at The Grid. A few months later, she was promoted to the Senior Graphic Designer position and moved to the Marketing Department.
Then in November of the same year, Chris also became a "Gridster". He had left his previous job about a month prior and had been looking for a position that had room for growth and that paid better. When he interviewed with The Grid, he wasn't quite sure what to expect. The people that interviewed him were very excited about the new direction that the company was going and needed people that bought into that idea. Chris had another offer that paid more but he was sold on the idea of working for The Grid. When he received a call a few days later, he jumped on the opportunity and was asked to come in the next day for orientation. One of the first things that HR did was to take Chris around to meet the rest of the company. When he was introduced to the Graphic Designer with a big smile he took note because she had graduated from Cal Poly about the time as one of the Ryan family friend's who works for his father as a Graphic Designer. Even though Darcy did not know her, she stuck in Chris' head.
The trail to romance got cold for about for about five months. But Chris' obsession for Star Wars would bring them together once more. Chris and a contingent of die hards camped out over night in front of the only theatre in San Luis Obispo that would be showing the Phantom Menace. This exercise was just to get tickets to the midnight showing of the film, not quite to get into see it yet. A week later, on the night of the premiere, Chris and many Gridsters took their place in line waiting to be let into the theatre for something that they have waited sixteen years for. At the time both Chris and Darcy were dating people although neither chose to attend the event. It was in line that they began talking and getting to know one another. This would be first of many movie experiences for the two of them because the gang from The Grid had a ritual of seeing movies on opening night. 
One of the communication tools used at The Grid (and around the world by millions upon millions) is a chat program called ICQ (I Seek You). The Grid also kept a central database of everyone's numbers to be shared with the rest of the company. It was in early August that Darcy added Chris to her buddy list. Having Chris on her list didn't come in handy until one night that Darcy was working late and wanted to make sure that she wasn't locked in for the night. She sent Chris a message to not lock her in. Unfortunately, Chris wasn't at work but he was able to relay her message to the night Supervisor. As soon as she popped onto ICQ the next morning, Chris asked if she had gotten out alright.
They began talking over ICQ every day and one fateful evening, Chris asked her out to dinner. They went to Firestone Grill for dinner and they enjoyed talking with one another. As they walked around town they ran into the gang from The Grid who were going to go see "The Sixth Sense". Darcy had to meet a client, and promised to meet Chris at the theatre… and as she got to the door, her pager went off. It was Chris looking for her. Good thing he was out in the lobby, because Darcy had not planned on seeing a movie that night, and was short on cash. Chris offered to help out. As they made their way into the theatre, there were not two seats next to each other, so people moved over so that Chris and Darcy could sit together. Throughout the entire movie, they kept looking over at each other but nothing happened. They confessed later to one another that they wanted to hold hands. At the end of the movie they went their separate ways home, thinking about each other.
The next evening, Chris was on ICQ at his father's office and Darcy was on at The Grid. Darcy did not want to go home, so Chris offered to come and give her a hug if she would go. They met outside the building and chatted a couple of minutes, they hugged, then hugged again and then kissed. They parted and went their separate ways, each not realizing exactly what had occurred until later. The next day, Darcy told Chris that she needed to get away and go for a walk on the beach, he offered to join her… home :
about us : chris
: darcy : proposal
: wedding |
